


Colombia Blue

by ally12m



Series: Loving is Easy, When Everythings Perfect [1]
Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Academic rivals, Alive Georgie Denbrough, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Bc that boy deserves a good life, Depends on how it goes - Freeform, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Sex, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pennywise doesn't exist bc he's a bitch, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-05-27 12:38:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15024779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ally12m/pseuds/ally12m
Summary: New York City, home to Broadway shows, world renowned museums and two of the top universities in the nation :NYU, and Colombia. Eddie Kaspbrak is a student at Columbia university a place where he’s able to get a higher education, meet exciting people, get in tune with the culture of the city, and live with little to no conflicts. Except, the latter isn’t going to happen with Richie Tozier contradicting every point that he makes in class,constantly annoying him, and constantly flirting with him, e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶k̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶l̶i̶r̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ To make the situation even worse for Eddie, their Sociology professor partnered him and Richie together for their first semester project. Will he be able to work with this boy that he thinks is insanely h̶o̶t̶ annoying?(aka the College AU where Eddie and Richie are academic Rivals at Colombia University and they’re forced to get along for their semester project.)





	1. 1

  
Leaving his mother's home in Albany should've been hard for Eddie; he was an only child who'd only been sheltered for much of his childhood. Growing up in the typical suburban home with an extremely over berring mother kept him away from most social interaction with kids his age and kept him away from anything outside of his small town.

He'd only been to the city twice: once with his aunts when he was nine and a second to tour Columbia University at 18. The first time when he went to visit his aunt he had the worst possible experience. He'd gone with his mother and she prevented him from touching anything outside of his aunt's apartment while he was there. They'd spent most of their time in his aunt's stuffy apartment in Manhattan and when they did go out Eddie was required to wear a surgical mask so that he wouldn't get sick. He'd cried because he just wanted to have fun and explore the city like a normal kid, but his mother scolded him and they went home early because she was paranoid about the amount of germs that could be lingering in the city air.

His second time visiting the city had been much better, this time he'd gone with some friends from school. It had been about five years since he'd stood up to his mother and by then she wasn't as over bearing as she had been, it was mostly because when Eddie stood up to her he'd unintentionally scared her. The moments from Eddie and his friends stepped off the train up to the end of their tour of Columbia had Eddie star struck, he felt right at home with the buzz of the city and he thought that the campus of Columbia was beautiful and a place that he could really call home.

When Eddie got his acceptance letter to Columbia he couldn't have left his childhood home any faster. He was excited to get away from his over bearing mother, live freely in the city, get a great education at one of the nation's top schools, and have fun overall.

When Eddie got to Columbia he ran into a road block with his plans and that road block went by the name of Richie Tozier. Richie came from a place full of tech startups and hippies: San Francisco. He'd say that he'd only chosen Columbia because they gave him the best financial aid package and he'd heard that one of the radio stations nearby was willing to give him an internship. During his first few weeks in New York he bragged about all of the other schools that he'd got into :UCLA, Stanford, Cornell; however someone/ Beverly quickly told him that he sounded like a try hard and that he should stop. Truthfully Columbia did give Richie the best financial aid package out of the schools he got accepted into, but he truly loved the school. At a young age, he quickly realized that San Francisco wasn't really for him, he wanted to be on the other side of the country and get away from all the sun and sand.

Eddie thought that Richie was possibly one of the most unmotivated and annoying people on the face of the earth. Yeah, if anyone would have asked him, he would admit that Richie was hot because he was; Eddie couldn't deny it if he tried. Richie was physically exactly Eddie's type, tall, lanky men with curly hair just did something to him. He would say that everything that came out of Richie's mouth was utter garbage and that his work ethic was terrible.

This disdain wasn't one sided, however. If you asked Richie about Eddie he would be able go on and on about how the other man was uptight and feisty, however he would end his rambling by saying

"I like the feisty ones though, plus have you seen those doe eyes. Cute,cute,cute"

Then he would proceed to do an overly dramatic swoon and possibly pretend to faint if he was feeling cheeky.

The two's disagreement began in their freshman year of college. They took a lot of the same classes, many of which were great catalysts for debates and class discussions. The two didn't see eye to eye on virtually anything. For example, in English 1101 they disagreed on the interpretation of A Separate Peace. Eddie thought that the book was just about two frenemies while Richie thought that the book was very queer coded. This led to the arguing for the rest of the period. Richie would bring up a point and Eddie would easily refute it with quotes from the book to which Richie would say a witty/ flirty joke as a comeback.

These disagreements continued well into their junior year and over time Eddie was able to combat Richie's jokes with witty remarks of his own.

Once the two started to take more classes focusing on their majors, Eddie's being Biochemistry and Richie's being film and media, they began to have less classes together. During their junior year they only had one elective together Soc 1101.

Both of them chose the elective because they were interested in how society interacts and the science behind it, but they didn't expect to see each other on their first day of class.

"God dammit did you really have to sign up for this class Tozier?" Eddie huffed as he sat down in the row in front of Richie and Beverly.

"Oh you know that you can't get enough of me Spaghetti." Richie joked

"How are you friends with him?" He asked Bev.

Eddie knew Beverly well enough to consider her a friend, they'd met in their freshmen statistics class and they'd often study with each other or get lunch when the other was free.

Soc 1101 was a class with a lot of theories which prompted Richie to try and debunk every single one which led to him and Eddie arguing everytime they had class. They argued so much that their professor carved out 15 minutes at the end of each class so that the two could go at it.

They didn't really see one another outside of class so when Mike invited Eddie and Bill to eat dinner with his new boyfriend, Stan,and his friends for the night, Eddie was pretty surprised to see Richie sitting in the large booth with everyone else.

Eddie knew everyone at the table to some extent, of course he knew Mike and Bill seeing as the three of them have been inseparable since freshmen orientation; he knew Ben from his sophomore creative writing class; and he'd met Stan most recently in their second level Chemistry class.

Eddie was the last of the group to arrive at the diner since he'd gotten off of work later than usual. By the time he'd gotten there, everyone had already ordered their food.

"Sorry I'm late guys, my boss had me doing some extra work on a bike and the traffic from Harlem was terrible. " He said as he sat down next to Bill and took off his jacket.

He sat across from Richie, who was eyeing him weirdly. Eddie brushed it off and turned to Stan, who was speaking to him.

"No problem Eddie, we ordered some 'appetizers' before the meal. I hope you don't mind. "Stan said putting appetizers in quotes since what they ordered was mostly alcohol and large amounts of food that could equal full entrée meals.

"Yeah its fine, I don't mind." Eddie reassured the group.

"W-w-we w-were just talking about M-Mike's n-new in-internship at the  
C-city mu-museum." Bill said while simultaneously reaching across the table for one of Mike's fries.

"That sounds amazing Mike, congrats." He replied enthusiastically.

"Yeah, Mikey's going to be knee deep in old timey artifacts and dust from the 1800's" Richie joked making the group chuckle. "That museum is probably dustier than Eddie's mom's-"

"Shut the fuck up Richie." Eddie quickly interjected before the other man could finish his sentence.

The group spent the rest of the night drinking,eating, laughing and getting to know eachother better. Eddie thought that the night was pretty successful despite the fact that he had to witness Richie's over the top flirting with their waitress and be the butt of most of his jokes.

As it started to get later and the group began to get tipsy, Eddie decided that it would be best if he went home, he had an early lab the next morning and would rather not be half asleep with a hangover while mixing chemicals.

The rest of the group tried to convince Eddie to hang out a bit longer and go with them to Serendipity ,but he was adamant about leaving.

"Yeah, I've got to get up early tomorrow, plus I'd rather not spend the rest of the night hearing Richie blabbing his mouth." He said somewhat jokingly before saying his goodbyes and making his way towards the door.

Richie ended up following him, telling the group something about walking him out. He caught up to Eddie right before he got out side the door.

"You know you don't have to make excuses to leave right Eds?" Richie asked with a mischievous smirk. It was obvious to anyone who saw the interaction that Richie had been drinking that night.

"What are talking about Richie and don't call me that." Eddie said, crossing his arms and eyeing Richie cautiously.

Richie leaned over to whisper in Eddie's ear. "You know that if your jealous I'd be more than happy to go home with you instead of that waitress."

Eddie was deeply offended. Yeah, Richie had blatantly hit on him before, but this time he took it too far. He delivered a harsh slap across Richie's face before leaving swiftly into the cold November night.

Stan and Beverly saw the entire encounter from where they were sitting in the booth. They didn't hear what Richie said to Eddie,but they knew that it was crude enough for him to deserve the slap.

Richie was stuck in place rubbing the side of his now stinging cheek. The area where Eddie slapped him was now bright red. He let out a whispered "Shit" before walking back to the booth. He'd realized that what he'd said was entirely wrong. Richie was expecting a witty or flirty remark back like he usually got when he hit on Eddie, but instead he got what he deserved a slap in the face to sober him up.

 

 

 


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this a bit earlier than I expected. I hope you guys like this chapter. I greatly appreciate all of the feedback that I've gotten so far so thank you! Chapter 3 should be out by next Friday.  
> -Allison

 

Richie Tozier had never been a very observant person, he'd guessed that he'd gotten it from his parents. He knew that they meant well, but with the amount of times that Richie had loudly snuck out if the house as a teen, and the amount of things he did that they never seemed to notice, he could say that his parents were completely oblivious to the things that he did unless he told them directly. There were only a few things that Richie had recently been able to see differences in since he moved to New York: he could tell when the records at the radio station were rearranged just by glancing at them, he could tell if the fries in the dining hall were fresh or reheated from the day before, and he could tell when Eddie Kaspbrak was upset. So it wasn't unusual that when Richie turned around to see the smaller man sitting in the back of the room, he saw Eddie looking as if he was about to burst into tears any second. He looked as if he'd gotten out of bed two minutes before walking into class. If the other man had sat in his usual seat Richie probably would have joked about Eddie trying to steal his signature look to maybe cheer him up, but that wasn't the case so Richie turned back around and made a mental note to talk to Eddie after class.

To say it simply Eddie's morning did not go as planned. Because he was so upset and tired the night before he'd forgotten to set an earlier alarm for his Lab so he woke up later than he wanted. Once he came to the realization, his anxiety began running wild. He immediately called an uber as He tried to calculate how much time he had to get to class, do his morning routine within two minutes and drag on the first two things he found in his dresser.

"Takes 25 minutes to get to Manhattan, lab starts at 8 it's 7:25. It takes ten minutes to walk to class I might have two minutes to spare." He thought to himself as he slid on his sneakers. He didn't even bother to tie them just wanting to get out of his apartment on time and make it to his lab.

He didn't realize how underdressed for the cold he was until he looked down at himself in the uber. Eddie had put on a heavy jacket and a Henley so the top half of him was warm, but unfortunately he was wearing probably the thinnest pair of sweatpants that he owned. Now Eddie was even more pissed at himself. He was feeling like he just wasn't able to do anything right today. He got to his destination earlier than expected and fortunately for him there was a street vendor across the street from the school's entrance. Eddie quickly made his way over and ordered a quick breakfast hoping that he could quickly scarf it down on his way to class. The universe was obviously not in his favor that day; as soon as he got back across to 116th and Broadway someone bumped into him making him spill the majority of his coffee on the sidewalk and drop his now half eaten breakfast sandwich.

Eddie had the urge to yell at whoever it was, tell them a quick 'fuck you' or a 'watch where your going dick", but he knew that if he did there might be a conflict and he had no time for that today. So he settled for brushing it off and made his way to class as he drank the last remaining drops of his coffee.

  
Now he's sitting in the back of his Sociology class thinking about everything that happened that morning and wanting to cry. He was having a fucking rough day and now he couldn't get out of his own head. Eddie somewhat tuned the lecture out for the day figuring that he could probably text Bev for the notes that he would undoubtedly miss by doodling in his notebook. He couldn't bring himself to actually write any words down. He didn't tune back in until towards the end of the class when his professor began to assign something.

"Okay guys so as you know, you all have a first semester project due for this course. Originally I was going to make it an individual project, however Richard and Edward have inspired me to change the project into a partnered debate. I'm going to pair you guys off now and I'll email you guys the directions, rubric, and topic assignments by the end of the day tomorrow. " the professor explained.

He began to pair people off and on a normal day Eddie would have probably prayed not to be paired up with Richie, but today he could care less about who he was partnered with.

As fate has it Eddie heard their professor say "Eddie and Richie will be partnered up, lets see if you two can finally agree on something in this class."

He felt the urge to roll his eyes at the grouping, but instead continued to look down at his notebook in which he'd been doodling in during the majority of the lecture.

  
Once the class was dismissed Richie immediately went to catch up with Eddie, who'd left a lot quicker than Richie had expected. He finally caught up to the smaller man right outside of the building.

"Eddie," Richie said, grabbing the man's arm to get his attention. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Richie didn't even give Eddie a chance to answer him before he started speaking again. "I'm honestly sorry about last night. I wasn't thinking and I shouldn't have said what I did."

Eddie yanked his arm out of Richie's grip and without so much a a word turned around and walked to his next class. He wasn't in the mood for an apology from Richie. He knew that the other man was being sincere, but today was not a day that Eddie was willing to forgive anyone.

Once Eddie got home after his day of classes and a short shift at the bike shop, he gets a text from Beverly. He'd texted her asking for her notes earlier so he wasn't surprised to see her name pop up in his phone. The text consisted of pictures of her notes, a 'you're welcome', and another text that was completely unrelated to their situation.

_Bev: I don't know what Rich said to you, but he's really hung up about it. He's been pouting all day._

Eddie truly felt sorry that he didn't let Richie explain himself earlier. He didn't want to be the cause of the other man's sadness, especially since with all that happened earlier in his day Eddie had virtually forgotten about the incident at the diner.

_Eddie: I mean I forgive him, he just needs to watch what he says to me or he'll be getting more than just a slap in the face._

  
You would think that the text would be the last they'd hear about the situation, however it wasn't. It was awkward between the two men for the better part of the week and Beverly took notice. She'd known both of them since freshman year and had never seen them act this awkward around each other, the only thing she'd seen between them was thick sexual tension and the occasional real anger. She had to witness Richie staring longingly at the back of Eddie's head for most of the class that week and witness Eddie staring longingly at Richie whenever he answered a question in class. To put it simply, Beverly was getting tired of it. It was obvious that the two wanted to talk to each other, but they were both too in their own heads to do it. So she invited both of them to dinner with her and Bill.

"I can't go Bill, I've got to...um... stay with my roommate tonight." Eddie said, trying to make up an excuse not to go.

"C-cut the c-crap E-Eddie, we both k-know that y-your r-roomate isn't h-home." Bill retorted quickly. "Just c-come out and h-have f-fun with u-us."

It was true Eddie's roommate Sarah was basically like a ghost that payed for half of the rent and utilities, she was always either in class, at work or at her girlfriend's house. Eddie had seen her maybe five times since she moved in six months ago.

"Okay fine, I'll go, but your driving. " Eddie demanded. "I d-don't have a c-choice." Bill said chuckling.

They both knew that Bill was the only one out of both of them who could drive so the arrangement was obvious.

 

* * *

 

Dinner was okay from Richie's perspective, the four of them had gone to a nice little Ramen restaurant that he'd been to multiple times. He stayed quiet for most of the evening and ate. He was afraid that he'd say something to piss Eddie off and he really didn't want that to happen again. Richie could see Eddie staring at him out of the corner of his eye as he played with the straw in his drink. He wanted badly to say 'take a picture it'll last longer', but decided against it. Instead he looked at Eddie and quirked an eyebrow asking why he was staring.

Eddie shook his head quickly as if he was relying 'nothing'. He blushed, embarrassed that he'd been caught and looked down at his almost empty bowl.

"Are y-you g-guys o-okay, y-you haven't s-s-said much t-tonight?" Bill asked observing the awkwardness between Eddie and Richie.

"Yeah, I just had a long day at work." Richie replied, hoping that Bill would take the lie.

Eddie didn't plan on replying since Bill knew that he hadn't wanted to come in the first place, but his friend had put him on the spot.

"Eddie?" Bill asked "I'm just tired is all, you know I'm usually not out this late." Eddie replied. He wasn't lying, Eddie didn't really go out at night that much.

His mothers warned him about muggings and shootings that happened in New York every time they spoke, so he tried to only go out during the day unless he was with other people, even though he knew that the likelihood of someone hurting him was probably slim.

"Maybe you guys should go get some rest," Beverly suggested. "Bill and I wouldn't want to keep you up."

"I didn't drive so I'd have to call an uber." Eddie said looking at Bill since he was his ride.

"Richie could take you home," Beverly interjected quickly "right Rich?"

Richie hesitated for a second before looking at Eddie and nodding his head. He realized that this would probably be a good opportunity for him to apologize again and maybe get back on Eddie's good side.

"Um. Yeah, it's better than paying to get in a stranger's you know." Richie said with a small chuckle that made Eddie quirk a small smile.

"Okay, Rich..... I'm ready to go if you are." Eddie said as he placed enough money on the table to cover his food.

"We can go now." Richie said doing the same before getting up from his seat.

They said their goodbyes and walked out of the restaurant in silence.

"Where's your car?" Eddie asked, clutching his jacket to his chest to shield him from the cold as they walked up the street.

"It's right here." Richie said before pointing at one of the most beautiful cars Eddie had seen in a long time

"Holy shit, is that a Mazda 6?" Eddie asked enthusiastically as they walked up to the car.

"Yeah it's the 2010 model," Richie replied as he unlocked the car, "she's a bit dinged up, but she's running just like new."

"She's gorgeous man, this is one of the cars I'd want if I could drive. They're really reliable." Eddie replied before getting in.

Richie smiled at Eddie's enthusiasm before starting the car "she was a present, from my folks. I drove her all the way from San Francisco when I graduated. "

Eddie nodded signifying that he was listening. Eddie gave Richie his address and the two settled into a comfortable silence, unlike the silence that they'd been experiencing for the past week. The only noise between them were the sounds of Queen, David Bowie, and Elton John playing and the occasional interruption by the GPS. Eddie looked out the window and would occasionally hum to one of the songs if he knew it. Richie turned the music off once he pulled up to Eddie's Brownstone.

"You know I'm truly sorry right Eds?" Richie asked, looking at the other man with pleading eyes.

"I forgive you Rich, let's just forget that it happened and just go back to normal so we can focus on our project." Eddie suggested.

Richie smiled and nodded. "I'd like that." He replied before the two exchanged numbers.

Thirty minutes after Richie dropped Eddie off and as he was settling in into bed, he got a text from Richie.

_Richie:i know you're probably sleeping, but I hope you got in safe :)_


	3. 3

Eddie and Richie were back on good terms, they were actually better acquaintances than before. Their debates were a lot less heated, contained more jokes and unfortunately for the entire class more sexual tension than before. 

The two had also met outside of class for the first time as well. It was a Wednesday afternoon where both of them were free. Eddie only had two classes that day and a pretty short shift so he was free for the rest of the night. Richie's schedule that day was very similar he'd had his Soc class that morning and spent the better part of his day at the station organizing music and setting up the queue for whoever was on air at the moment.  

The two met at a diner in Upper Manhattan close to where Richie lived and not too far from Eddie's job. They'd been working on the project for less than 20 minutes as they ate dinner. Eddie would find the information since he was much quicker at skimming through the textbook and Richie typed the information into their shared word document. 

"I'm pissed that he gave us structural functionalism. That's the only theory out if the major ones that I cannot find anything good to say about."Eddie stated with a huff as he skimmed through his textbook. 

"Yeah, it completely over looks like all of the major aspects of society today. It ignores all the conflict and inequality that's going on."Richie replied as he watched Eddie search for more information.

"I completely agree." Eddie replied with a small nod.

Richie stared at him in fake awe 

"Wowwie Eds, I think that's the first thing we've ever agreed on." he joked, "I think that this calls for a celebration. "

"It's definitely not and don't call me Eds" Eddie replied to Richie even though he obviously wasn't listening, but trying to get their waitress's attention. 

"We'll have a slice if your finest apple pie please." Richie said in a dramatic (and terrible if you asked Eddie) British accent. "Also can you top it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream for the lovely gentleman sitting across from me?"

Their waitress chuckled and took the order.

"How did you know I wanted apple pie?" Eddie asked once the waitress was out of earshot.

"How could I not know, you've been eyeing the one in the display case like you wanted to fuck it since you got here." Richie said with a smirk as he gestured to the apple pie displayed at the high top counter across from them.

Eddie rolled his eyes. He was about to speak before their waitress came back with the pie and two spoons.

The two finished eating and chatted for a bit before the late night rush came into the diner. 

"It's getting really crowded in here can we go somewhere else?" Eddie asked. He could barely pay attention to himself think let alone focus what Richie was saying with all of the noise in the diner.

  
"Yeah, my apartment is a few blocks from here we can walk." Richie said before getting up to pay at the counter. 

Eddie was too focused on packing his stuff to realize that Richie had paid for his meal. He collected his bag and Richie's and met him at the counter under the assumption that he was paying for his meal.

"Here's your stuff Rich." Eddie said holding Richie's bag out towards him and making his presence known. 

"Thanks Eddie Spaghetti," Richie replied smiling brightly at the other man and taking his bag. 

"Richie," Eddie warned him for using the nickname.

The waitress watched at them as she waited for Richie to take his receipt and his change. 

"You two are so cute together." she said thinking nothing of it.

"Oh, we're not-" Eddie started before Richie pulled him closer by his waist and started speaking.

"Not as cute as this one though. " Richie said moving his hand to pinch Eddie's cheek before having it slapped away by Eddie's hand. "You can keep the change." he continued before leading Eddie out of the diner.

"You can be a real piece of work sometimes Richie." Eddie huffed as they left the diner. "Why would you just let her think that we're a couple?"

Richie shrugged, "Its fun to fuck with people sometimes."He said his hand still resting on the small of Eddie's back as they walked down the street. 

Eddie noticed it, but didn't make any moves to stop it. Richie's hand felt comfortable and left a warm feeling in Eddie's chest.

They joked and laughed the entire way to Richie's apartment. Once there, Richie pulled out his keys and went straight to his car.

"What are you doing?" Eddie asked confused about the situation. 

" I'm taking you home get in." Richie replied looking at Eddie expectantly. 

"No, I can't let you drive me home. I live across the bridge and don't think that I didn't notice that you paid for dinner."Eddie said shaking his head."You've done too much for me already."

"What kind of guy would I be if I didn't pay for dinner and make sure that my hot date got home safe?" Richie asked with a chuckle.

"Hot date?" Eddie asked with a smirk.

"Hot study-date then. Either way I think that you're hot Eds."Richie said with a smirk as he got in the car."Get in hot stuff."

Eddie rolled his eyes and chuckled before getting into the car. Richie set up his phone on the aux cord so that he could play music while he drove.

"Welcome to the Richie Tozier cool jams power hour on Eddie K short stacks radio-" Richie started in his radio announcer voice before being playfully hit on the arm and flipped off by Eddie."First up tonight is a song very near and dear to my heart. Let's get right into it."He continued before playing Only by Nicki Minaj.

"Oh my fucking God." Eddie sais laughing loudly as they drove off and Richie began rapping.They continued to sing to various songs, mostly 80's hits and Nicki Minaj, and laugh throughout their drive to Eddie's apartment.

  
"Thanks for the ride Rich," Eddie stated once they arrived at his brownstone. He didn't really want the night to end and something inside of him told him that Richie didn't either.

 "Do you um...want to walk me up or something?"Eddie asked quickly as he blushed "I mean you totally don't have to if you don't want I just thought maybe we-"

"I'd be happy to walk you to your door Spaghetti man." Richie said cutting him off and smiling brightly at the other man.

Eddie rolled his eyes at the nickname, but smiled fondly at him before getting out of the car. Richie quickly did the same and caught up with him, placing a warm hand on Eddie's waist.

Eddie noticed the placement of the other man's hand and looked down at it briefly before blushing and smiling to himself. He mentally cursed at himself because just the slightest touch of affection from Richie could have such a strong effect on him and cause the butterflies that he felt in his stomach. This was not how he planned for them to end up, but he wasn't really mad about it and neither was Richie. 

To anyone else it may have seemed like Richie knew exactly what he was doing, but in reality that was far from the truth. Yeah, he'd been on plenty of dates before and flirted with plenty of people, but when it came to Eddie, he felt like he was 15 again and going on his first date with sweaty palms and his heart beating out of his chest. He was surprised, but enthusiastic to walk Eddie to his door, it ment that he had to be doing something good. Right? Fuck he hoped that he'd been doing something right that night. 

The walk to Eddie's door was pretty short as he expected, but once they got there Richie had no clue what to do next. It was like all of his years of dating experiences flew out the window.

"So..um, I had a really nice time tonight."Richie said blushing slightly and scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"Yeah, me too. Thanks again for dinner and dropping me off."Eddie replied leaning his back against the door. 

"It's no problem; I'd be happy to do it again." Richie said leaning in closer to Eddie.

"Yeah, me too. You know you don't have to stand so far away" Eddie chuckled grabbing Richie by the front of his button up and bringing him closer to so that the two were almost chest to chest.

 _"Just kiss me you fucking idiot, come on."_ Eddie thought to himself. _"Come on Rich."_

Richie chuckled as he was pulled in, "Who would've thought you'd be so forward Eds? I'm definitely not complaining, though, I like being this close to you."

Eddie rolled his eyes and smirked at Richie, "oh really? Well, we could get even closer if you wanted to. " He replied. He noticed Richie's eyes lingering on his lips and said a quick, "fuck it" before closing his eyes and leaning in to kiss the other man. 

It was a slow, but passionate kiss one that the two had been undoubtedly been waiting for since the first time they'd met, even though neither would admit it. Eddie was surprised at how great of a kisser Richie was. He was almost perfect in Eddie's mind; his lips were chapped, but not too chapped, the hand that Richie placed on his cheek once the kiss started was rubbing small circles into Eddie's face reassuring him that everything was going to be okay and that them kissing wasn't wrong. It all made Eddie feel safe, warm, and happy, all things he hadn't felt from a partner in a while.

Richie wrapped his other arm around Eddie's waist and pulled him closer so that their chests met. He deepened the kiss making Eddie let out a small, but pleasure filled noise. He smirked to himself as Eddie draped his arms around Richie's neck and tangled his fingers in his hair wild curly hair. Eddie pulled on Richie's hair slightly making the other man let out a small moan and squeeze Eddie's hip.

 Richie pulled away after a while to catch his breath and to stop the kiss from getting too heated. He rested his forehead on Eddie's and stared at the other man before speaking.

"Hot damn Eds, you kiss better than you mom." Richie said with a surprised chuckle.

Eddie rolled his eyes and playfully shoved Richie away from him. "You just had to ruin it didn't you?" He asked jokingly.

"What? I'm just trying to compliment your make out skills. " Richie joked before pulling the other man back toward him and pressing a quick kiss to his lips. 

Eddie bit his lip after the quick kiss and spoke,"So...this was a real date?"

"It was, unless you want it to be something else?" Richie questioned. Eddie quickly shook his head.

"It's perfect as is, I had fun. Goodnight Richie."He said before kissing Richie on the cheek and getting out of his grip so that he could open his door.

"Sweet dreams Eds." Richie replied as he watched the other man retreat into his apartment. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all had a great week and enjoyed the chapter. I'm going to try and update every Thursday from now on until school starts back.  
> -Allison


	4. 4

 

"You're back late," Stan commented.

Stan was leaning against their Island eating dinner when Richie walked in.

"Um..yeah, Eds and I kind of lost track of time....doing our project." Richie lied. 

It had been a week since his and Eddie's first date and since then they'd been practically inseparable. They walked each other to their classes, they ate lunch together almost everyday, they hung out at each other's apartments practically every night and when they weren't together they were texting each other non stop. 

The other losers had noticed the drastic change in their relationship and Stan and Bill bet $20 on whether the two were dating. 

 

~

"Either they're dating or they're fucking." Stan stated to Bill on the phone. "Either way their together no question about that."

"I don't think so. I know Eddie and with the amount of times he's complained to me about Rich I really don't think that they're together. Eddie even told me that he wouldn't let Richie's dick touch him with a ten foot pole so I highly doubt that they're fucking." Bill responded. 

Bill was adamant that the two were just friends, while Stan thought that Eddie and Richie were definitely doing something together and not telling the rest of the group.

 

~

"Yeah? Lost track of time while you were getting laid?" Stan asked jokingly with a smirk on his face. 

Richie's face got red and he shook his head, "No Staniel, Eds and I aren't fucking. Sorry to burst your bubble bud." He replied as he took off his shoes and coat at the door

Richie wasn't lying, Eddie and him hadn't had sex, even though Richie had thought about it countless times since he and Eddie has gotten back on good terms.The two did make out for over an hour the night before, but Richie wasn't going to disclose that information to Stan. What he and Eddie did behind closed doors was no one's business, but their's. 

"I'm just messing with you. I know if you guys did we'd never hear you talk about anything else." Stan said with a chuckle. "You've been talking about how hot and cute he is since freshman year."

"Not as cute as you Stan the man." Richie said as he tried to ruffle Stan's hair.

"Fuck off and go to bed." Stan replied as he flicked the other man off. 

"I'm hurt Stan, why don't you let me give you my love? Ben let me love him." He stated as he crossed his arms. "Speaking of where is haystack?"

"He went out with Bill and Bev, said he probably won't be back until tomorrow." Stan said nonchalantly. 

"Hats off to him, you should be asking him if he got laid." Richie joked. He felt a buzz in his pocket and looked down to see a miss call from Eddie. 

"Well I think I'm going to head to bed, sweet dreams my friend." He said before kissing Stan on the cheek which prompted the other man to frantically wipe it away and give a fake gag.

"Goodnight Rich. " Stan replied as Richie walked to his room.

Richie dialed Eddie back as soon as the door to his bedroom shut behind him.

"Richie?" Eddie's soft voice made Richie feel like his entire body was melting.

"Hey babe, miss me already?" He asked as he laid down in his bed.

"Yeah....a little." Eddie replied hesitantly. "I just wanted to see if you got home safe."

Richie smiled happily, it felt good to be cared about by the other man. "Yeah, I got back safe. Was that all you wanted to know?"

"No, are you coming over again tomorrow?" Eddie asked.

"I don't know Eds, Bill and Ben wanted to hang out at Bill's tomorrow, but I'll swing by if I can." He said knowing fully well that he was probably going to leave Bill's and go straight to Eddie's within the first ten minutes. 

"Okay, I'm off tomorrow so I'll be home all day... if you decide to come over. And my roommate is visiting her family upstate so I've got the place to myself....all alone." Eddie replied. 

"If I didn't know any better I'd think that you were implying something Eds." Richie said smirking.

"Maybe I am, you'll just have to come over to find out." Eddie said seductively. 

"You're killing me spaghetti." Richie said squeezing his eyes shut to try and think about anything, but what Eddie was implying.

He heard Eddie chuckle lightly on the other side of the phone. 

"Shut the fuck up." Eddie stated playfully. "I'll talk to you in the morning babe."

"Alright sweet dreams Eds." Richie replied.

"Sweet dreams Rich." Eddie said before they hung up. The conversation had Richie grinning for the rest of the night as he got ready for bed and went to sleep. 

 

~

The next day Eddie was feeling very anxious to see Richie, they'd been texting since they woke up and Richie had informed him that he'd probably be coming over at four since he had to be at the station for a few hours. That gave Eddie five hours until he could see Richie. He decided to occupy his time by doing laundry and cleaning the apartment.

Eddie's mind was focused on anything, but Richie as he was cleaning and he was somewhat happy about it. Don't get him wrong, thinking about the curly-haired boy made him feel pretty happy, but he knew that thinking about Richie 24/7 wasn't healthy even if he really liked him.

Eddie had finished cleaning and was on his couch watching tv, when he got a text from Richie. 

Rich: Got off early. I'm dropping Ben off at Bill's now be over in five <3

The text made Eddie's heart leap. He couldn't wait to see his....friend with benefits? Their title was complicated, but that was a problem for future Eddie. Present Eddie needed to make sure that he looked presentable before Richie showed up. He sent a quick 'can't wait ' before jumping off the couch and going to the bathroom to fix his hair. 

He hadn't styled it all day, he'd just let it air dry after his shower earlier that morning and put on a hairband to keep some of it out of his face while he cleaned. Eddie quickly styled his hair, not too worried about it being perfect. He figured that it would undoubtedly get messed up again like it usually did when Richie came over. The other man's hands were always either on Eddie's waist or playing in his hair when they hung out. 

Eddie heard a knock in his door and quickly finished his hair before going to answer it. He opened the door and let out a small chuckle as he saw Richie leaning against the door frame. The other man had tried to look cool, but to Eddie he just looked like a dork,a cute dork. 

"Oh hey spaghetti I was looking for your mom, but if she's not around I'll settle for you." Richie joked as he looked Eddie up and down.

Eddie rolled his eyes and smiled. "Come in asshole." He said as he grabbed Richie's hand and led him into the apartment. 

By the time the door closed behind them and Richie had taken off his coat he had Eddie pinned against the wall and they settled into a hungry drugging kiss. Eddie's hands made their way into Richie's hair and he tugged lightly causing Richie to whine into the kiss. Richie placed his hands just below Eddie's waist and brought their crotches closer together. Richie as used one hand to caress and grab Eddie's ass he smirked and pulled away noticing something. He noticed that Eddie was wearing probably the shortest shorts Richie had ever seen in his life.

"Did you wear these for me? I feel honored." Richie said gesturing to the old track shorts that Eddie had on. 

Eddie looked down and his face got redder than before

"Shit, I forgot that I had them on. It's laundry day so-" Eddie started before Richie cut him off.

"I like them Eds, you don't have to change for me." Richie said with a small chuckle. "Can we continue where we left off?"

Eddie bit his lip seductively and grabbed Richie by the front of his shirt pulling him down to capture his lips into another heated kiss. After a moment Richie's lips left Eddie's and he began kissing down his jaw line and his neck, leaving the shorter man whining softly and grinding his and Richie's hips together.

"Rich...please." he whined out getting impatient. 

"What do you want baby?" Richie asked as the two breathed heavily.

"Bedroom." Eddie said simply before pushing Richie away and leading him to his room.

As he walked into the room Eddie quickly removed his shirt and laid down on the bed, prompting Richie to do the same. Richie placed himself over Eddie and between the smaller man's legs. Richie kissed his lips passionately before speaking.

"You're so fucking beautiful Eds." He said before kissing Eddie's neck and down to his chest. "Could stare at you all night babe."

Eddie laughed and covered his face in embarrassment. "Stop Rich." He said through his laugh. 

Richie stopped and sat back on his knees smiling at the blushing man in front of him.

"What Eds I'm just trying to compliment you." He said pulling the other man's hand from over his face. "I can't compliment the hottest Spaghetti man I've ever seen?" He joked.

"Keep using that name and you won't be able to see this again." Eddie joked as he gestured to himself.

"Ohh Eds gets off a good one." Richie said chuckling.

"Yeah? And if you don't shut up and kiss me you won't be getting off at all." Eddie replied before pulling Richie back into the kiss.

 

~

After their escapades the two showered and watched a few movies before they fell asleep cuddling each other on the couch. Richie woke up a short time later remembering that he had to take Ben home, but once looked at his phone he saw a text from ben saying

 

Haystack: don't worry about me I'm fine.

Haystack: Bill's dropping me home, I know you probably fell asleep at Eddie's.

 

Richie closed his phone and nudged Eddie awake.

"We gotta get into the bed Eds come on." Richie said softly once the other man woke up with a groan. 

Eddie nodded before getting up from under Richie's arm on the couch and began walking tiredly to his room. Richie followed behind him and stripped down to his boxers before crawling into the bed next to Eddie. Once he felt Richie's presence next to him Eddie rolled over and snuggled into Richie's side while Richie wrapped and arm around him cuddling Eddie close. The two were practically out by the time their heads his the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave me feedback in the comments or on my tumblr @softest-reddie. You guys are free to send in headcannons or as any questions about this fic on my tumblr as well. Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!  
> -Allison


	5. 5

Eddie woke up to the sun streaming across his face, a heavy arm draped across his waist, and his body being nearly off the edge of the bed. He turned over to get the sun out of his eyes. He came face to face with Richie's shirtless body spread out on the bed and tangled in the sheets. It was obvious that the other man had pushed Eddie towards the edge of the bed at some point during their sleep. 

Eddie watched as Richie slept peacefully. The sun really brought out the small assortment of freckles on Richie's face and Eddie felt the urge to touch each one. He decided against it when the other man readjusted himself in his sleep, grabbing on to Eddie's waist slightly. After a short while Eddie started to get uncomfortable, he was only in his boxers and even though the sun was out and bright that  day, it was still winter in New York and Eddie's heater had shut off sometime during the night making the room insanely cold. 

He pushed on Richie's arm to try to get up, but the other man's lifeless arm won against Eddie's lack of strength that morning and his lack of true effort to get Richie's arm off. 

"Richie come on." Eddie said shaking the other man slightly. 

Richie only groaned until Eddie shook him again making him open a single eye.

"Five more minutes please Eds." Richie whined as he shut his eye again.

"No Richie, I'm fucking cold, let me just get up and turn on the heat." Eddie said trying to push on Richie a bit harder. 

"No you're keeping me warm spaghetti. "Richie groaned out

"Do you want me to kick you out Rich? Come on let me get up." Eddie replied with a slight playfulness in his tone.

"Give me a kiss first" Richie said pulling Eddie closer to him and puckering his lips dramatically 

"No! We haven't even brushed our teeth yet." Eddie complained, pushing Richie away as the other man-made kissing noises at him. 

Richie laughed and let go of the slightly appalled brunette man. Eddie quickly got from under the covers and started to shiver slightly. 

"It's so fucking cold in here!" Eddie said as he quickly shuffled to turn up the heat on the thermostat in his room and then shuffling to get a hoodie from his closet.

Richie watched the smaller man fondly as he walked around his bedroom.

"I can feel your eyes on me Rich." Eddie said turning around as he fixed the strings of his hoodie and sat on the bed with his legs crossed

"You just look so cute Eddie spaghetti. Cute, cute cute." Richie replied propping himself on one arm so that he could look at Eddie better.

"A picture could last a lot longer, and what did I tell you about calling me that. " Eddie replied. 

Richie ignored the last part of what Eddie said because ultimately he would him 'Eddie Spaghetti' again.

"I'd love to take pictures of such a gorgeous boy." Richie said with a posh british accent.

Eddie laughed at the accent and Richie reached for his phone that was on the side table next to him. 

"Come on babes pose for me." Richie said as snapping random pictures of Eddie who was now laughing even more. 

Richie laughed with him as he continued to take pictures. Eddie gave a few poses through his laughs before putting his hand over the camera and telling Richie to stop. The two of them laid down and scrolled through the pictures. Most of them were slightly blurry from the two of them laughing so much and the others were such good candids that Eddie had Richie to send them to him. 

"Wow I'm hot, who knew" Eddie joked as he got up to go brush his teeth and get Richie a spare toothbrush. 

"I've tried to tell you since freshman year Eds." Richie said following him out the room and down the hall.

 

~

 

That night all of the losers gathered at a small diner in the city. They decided to have one last dinner together before they all parted ways and went home for thanksgiving. Bill coined it 'The losers club Friendsgiving'. He'd been watching a lot of How I Met Your Mother at the time.

The seven of them ate, laughed  and caught up with each other since they hadn't hung out together as a whole group in a few weeks. 

"And then he told me that he doesn't even know how I got accepted into CU." Beverly said appalled. "But fuck him because every insult that he throws me is wack."

She was recounting an argument that she had with her fashion design partner, Adam, two days before. All of the losers sided with her since Adam was known to be a dick by the entire campus. 

"Do ya want me to take care of him Bev?" Richie asked in a mob boss accent. "I'll have 'm sleeping with the fishes." He said as he tried to crack his knuckles. 

Most of the group laughed, except for Stan who rolled his eyes and smiled. The whole time Stan had been taking pictures of the group on Richie's phone since somehow he had the most storage on his phone and since it was sitting right next to Stan. It wasn't unusual for Stan to take candids of his friends when they hung out; he liked to have pictures of his friends for later in his life so that he won't forget them.

"Well well well. Looks like I know that kept you from coming home last night." Stan said to Richie in a low voice so that the others didn't hear them. He showed Richie the picture that he'd come across of Eddie posing on his bed in only his hoodie and boxers.

"Shut up Stan its none of your business." Richie said blushing slightly.

"Oohh your blushing, you must really like him." Stan teased. "I'm just saying, it's surprising to see this since you guys basically hated each other up until earlier this month."

Richie just brushed him off. He thought that it was none of Stan's business what him and Eddie did. He doesn't ask any questions about Stan's relationship with Mike.

 

~

 

Unfortunately Eddie was back in his childhood home for a week. Albany wouldn't be a bad place of it weren't for everything his mother had put him through. Albany was beautiful especially in November when the leaves were changing and almost everything gave off a slightly golden hue. Eddie loved it and he admired the beauty of the city as his Uber drove him to his mother's house. 

Now he was virtually stuck in the small and slightly dusty house for the better part of the week until Thursday, when him and his mother drove twenty minutes north to his aunt's house for thanksgiving dinner. Usually thanksgiving dinner at his aunt's went pretty smoothly; She acted as a mediator between him and his mother and she most recently let him drink during dinner despite his mother's complaints about how it would mess up his "fragile kidneys". But until then Eddie was stuck tending to his mother's every need for a week and constantly being manipulated by her despite his best efforts.

Every time he went back home it was like he was twelve years old again and being forced to stay in the house because his mother made him feel guilty every time that he left. Her guilt trip began the moment that Eddie sat down in the living room after putting his suitcase in his old bedroom. 

"So how have you been Ma?" Eddie asked trying to start a normal conversation, but knowing that Sonia was going to turn it into an opportunity to victimize herself.

"Oh Eddie-bear, it's been a terrible few months. You know that spot that Dr. Ludeman checked for cancer. Turns out that it wasn't anything bad, but he said that cancers are getting more and more common in women my age. And ever since he said that I've had a feeling that some type of cancer is growing inside of me." Sonia explained.

Eddie knew that nothing was wrong with his mother, she was basically the poster child for good health. The only thing standing in her way was her weight, but part was mostly genetic.

"I also read an article about those little packaged cakes that I get from the grocery store that you know I love so much and it said that those have some chemical that causes cancer in it." She continued. "Please pray for mama Eddie-bear. Ever since you've been gone at that big shot college in the city my health just hasn't been the same. I think it's because I'm stressed about my baby boy's safety in that big, dirty city."

"I'm doing okay ma. The city's not that bad and it's not as dirty as you think." Eddie said trying to defend his current home. 

"I just worry Eddie, especially since you choose this new lifestyle of yours. I know that you know how many diseases that you can get from being with men and I've heard that men from the city are 20 times more likely to have the AIDS virus than the ones who live upstate." Sonia explained. 

Eddie rolled his eyes, she never truly approved of Eddie being gay. Always telling him how dirty other men were and saying that if he wanted to she could take him to church to fix it. It pissed Eddie off to say the least, but she was his mother and he had too much respect for her to argue about something that he was going to do regardless. 

"Speaking if your lifestyle. I know that although most boys are dirty there are a few out there that aren't such as my son and I think that those are the types of boys you should be dating if you still want to be with men." Sonia said. "I think that I've found the perfect boy for you. His name is  Micah, he's  handsome,strong, and godly. He's a new member in our church, we're trying to be more accepting people in your lifestyle. And best part is that he's single." 

"Ma what are you talking about? What makes you think that I want to date him? I don't even know him." Eddie asked confused about why his mother was doing this.

"Well you're single so I showed him a picture of you and scheduled a date for you two for tomorrow night at 6." Sonia explained with a smile. "You're not getting any younger Eddie and even though you can't naturally have kids I don't want to be dead and gone when you finally get married and adopt some children."

"You didn't even think to ask if I have a boyfriend or not Ma." Eddie said feeling offended. 

" Well do you Eddie. It would be lovely if you've already found a nice boy to be with." She asked hopeful

Eddie blushed, he and Richie never discussed labels for whatever they were, but Eddie knew better than to tell his mother that the two were boyfriends.

"I like someone Ma and he's really sweet...and funny, and smart." Eddie gushed.

"That's lovely Eddie, where is he from?" She asked.

"California, San Francisco to be exact." Eddie said smiling now that he was thinking about Richie.

"Oh no..Eddie-bear. You can't date a boy from San Francisco, they're known cheaters. He'll only break your heart especially in a city as big as new york with so many of your kind in it he's bound to cheat on you." Sonia said with genuine concern for her son.

"Richie's not like that Ma......at least I don't think he is." Eddie said doubting himself slightly. 

Now that he thought about it Richie was a known flirt and he was also known to sleep around for time to time. Had he made a huge mistake by sleeping with him before break? What if Eddie was just another conquest for Richie and the other man never truly cared about him? If that was the case then he needed to distance himself fast.

"I know Micah would never do that to you, I've already spoken to his mother and she says that he's a lovely boy who would never hurt a fly let alone break someone's heart. " Sonia continued. 

"Fine Ma, I'll go on the date." Eddie said before getting up to go to his room. "I'm going to go take a nap."

In his room Eddie hid himself under his covers and cried silently. He gad promised himself that he wouldn't let Richie affect him, but some where along the way he'd put his walls down for the other man and let him in and now Eddie was beating himself up about that and thinking about what his mother said earlier. 


	6. 6

Richie dreaded going home for the holidays. San Francisco in late November was a small change from New York in late November. New York in its fall to winter stage was one of Richie's favorite times; it was cold enough to be layered up, but not cold enough for him to break out his snow coat and it usually didn't rain. In San Francisco, however it rained almost everyday to the point where Richie could barely leave the house to go find something to do. He'd been used to it as a child and could appreciate the rain at times, but once he left the city and saw that it doesn't rain 24/7 everywhere else he came to dread going home to the constantly wet San Francisco every November.

  
Another reason that he dreaded going home was his parents. Maggie and Went Tozier were great parents; they were fun and they cared about Richie a lot, but something just never fully connected them to their son. They didn't have many things in common with Richie. Their conversations mostly consisted of talking about school or work and the occasional conversation about answers when they watched family feud, but they loved him and supported him nonetheless. Richie was their only child after all.

  
Since Richie left for college three years ago, they'd been asking him more about his personal life in addition to school. Their pressing questions were always "are you seeing anyone?, Do you want us to set you up with a nice girl or boy? Are you dating that girl or boy that you posted on twitter?" And every time his answer was no. Richie tried his best to keep his parents far away from his love life. He'd always been afraid that whoever he was with at the time wouldn't like his parents or vice versa so it was just easier to keep them separate, but now that he and Eddie were....whatever they were he felt like he finally had someone who he could see himself bring home to his parents. Now he could finally give his parents the answer that Richie thought they'd wanted for years.

  
"So how's New York son? Your mother said that you might get some airtime at the station soon?" Went asked as the three ate KFC for dinner the night before thanksgiving. 

  
It was an annual tradition for the Tozier household to eat some type of fast food the night before a holiday like Christmas or Thanksgiving when his mother had to do a lot of cooking. It put less stress on everyone. They usually ate in the living room and watched TV on nights like this,but this year Maggie had forced the three of them to sit around the dining table so that they could eat like a "regular family" despite the fact that all of them had a different idea of what a "regular family" was.

  
"Um, yeah it's good. We're doing a 15 minute trial run on some of my material once the new year starts. Dave said that I could probably get my own hour if they get good feedback from the listeners." Richie said smiling proudly. 

  
His parents nodded and gave him a proud smile as they continued to eat. 

  
"So how are your friends doing? Is that Marsh girl still around, she was really nice and funny when we came to visit last time" Maggie asked after a while.

  
"Yeah, I still see Bev. We hang out with the rest of our group a lot and we've got a few classes together this year." Richie responded. His mother asked about Beverly every time they talked and she said that Beverly reminded her of her younger self every time. Richie knew that his mother wanted him to date Beverly, but he'd already told Maggie that it would never happen. They were a lot like brother and sister and the thought of them dating was completely disgusting to the both of them.

  
"Aw that's great, I'm glad that you two are still good friends. I wish you two would have tried to date though, I think that you'd make a great couple. " Maggie replied before Went jumped into the conversation. 

  
"Leave the boy alone Mags, he's told you a million times that he's not going to date the girl." Went said with a small chuckle and a roll of his eyes giving Richie a look that said 'I'm sorry about her'

  
"I know, I know. I just want him to have someone you know." Maggie explained. "I'm sorry Richard, I shouldn't have said anything."

  
"No its okay mom." Richie stated before pausing. He was contemplating whether or not to mention Eddie. Richie liked the other boy a lot; to the point where Eddie was the only thing on his mind for hours on end.

  
"I've actually been seeing someone." Richie said shyly. He blushed slightly and looked down at the fried chicken and mashed potatoes on his plate trying to hide the blush that was spreading on his cheeks.

  
Went and Maggie looked at each other with shocked expressions. Richie had never told them when he was dating someone, hell he didn't even really come out to them. They only found out that he was bisexual when his first boyfriend came to their house to surprise Richie for his 16th birthday. They never had a problem with it, they'd accepted Richie and tried to support everything he did, but they only wished that their son would share more about his life with them.

  
"That's great son," Went said with a smile.

  
"Tell us about them." Maggie said eager to hear about her son's love life.

  
"Well its nothing too serious yet. His name's Eddie, he's in my Soc class and he's really cute and funny and ambitious and sweet." Richie said gushing about the boy that he'd  missed since the moment he landed in California again. "He's  called me the most annoying person in the world, but he still goes on dates with me so I don't think that there's much truth to that statement." He continued with a small chuckle.

  
"That so great honey, I'm so happy for you. " Maggie said ecstatic that her son had found someone who he truly liked. 

  
They'd never seen Richie like this before. He'd had other relationships, but he never talked about them like he was talking about Eddie now. The man looked completely smitten as he continued to talk about Eddie and tell his parents funny stories about him and the rest of the losers club.

~

Eddie didn't want to go on his date. He tried to convince his mom and his aunt to call it off, but it seemed as if the two had been in cahoots about setting Eddie up with someone for a long time. Nothing that he could say or do would make them call off the date.

  
Eddie was nervous about it for some reason. He hadn't been on a real sit down, dinner date in a long time.  All of the dates that he'd gone on with Richie were fun and spontaneous and he never knew what they were going to do next, but tonight he didn't expect any of that to happen with Micah. Eddie expected it to be a boring date with someone who he was completely incompatible with.

  
Eddie had to admit that he missed Richie, they'd been texting since the moment Richie landed in California less than a week ago. Eddie's conversation with his mom earlier in the week had made Eddie hesitant to continue texting Richie, but every time he saw his name pop up in his phone he couldn't help, but reply to the text that was most likely a stupid, but funny joke. 

  
"Eddie we have to leave if you want to get to the restaurant on time." He heard his mother say as he tried to fix his hair for the fifth time in the bathroom mirror. 

  
"I'm coming ma" He yelled back.

~

He felt like he was in high school again going on his first date with someone who he definitely didn't want to go on a date with. The only difference was that this time he was older and a lot more experienced with things like this.

  
Micah was sweet and gentlemanly  throughout his and Eddie's entire date. When they met he walked Eddie to their table and held out the chair for him. It was a pleasant surprise for him no one had ever held out a chair for him, besides Richie who mostly did it as a joke. He talked about himself a bit too much for Eddie's liking, but he made up for it by letting Eddie do the same for basically the rest of the night.

  
Eddie constantly compared Micah to Richie. Every time the man across the table from him told a joke he compared it to Richie's and started to remember how funny he is and how much he missed his boy in the city. Eddie had to constantly get himself out of his own head and try to enjoy the date and he eventually  did. It started when Micah started talking about his interest in cars and how he liked to work on them in his free time. Eddie was immediately intrigued he loved cars since he was a kid and even though his anxiety stopped him from driving he still wanted to soup up a car one day. The two began talking about the cars they loved and showing each other pictures and videos of cool cars that they found. 

  
By the end of their dinner date Eddie could say that he had fun talking to Micah; so much fun that the two exchanged phone numbers and continued to text and talk throughout the night,the next few days, and even when Eddie got back home to the city.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but I'm glad that you guys are liking this fic so far and I hope you like this chapter as well, school is starting back up for me soon so updates may be less frequent than usual. I appreciate any and all feedback or comments that you guys give me and thanks again for reading.  
> ~Allison


	7. 7

"Guuyyyss." Richie whined from where he laid spread out on his living room couch. He had his hands and both sides of his head squeezing it slightly out of frustration. "I need help."

Since he'd told his parents about Eddie he'd been thinking about the other man more and more frequently. While in California Richie came to the conclusion that he actually wanted to be with Eddie exclusively and officially. So now he was faced with two options: Tell Eddie how he feels or ignore his feelings until they're gone. The latter would just hurt Richie more than anything so his first option was his best bet; it was how to go about it that was frustrating him.

"You've been laying there groaning for almost thirty minutes now, what's got you so frustrated?" Mike asked looking at Richie confused.

Stan had invited Mike over for dinner figuring that they'd have the apartment to their selves for the night since all the losers (specifically Eddie) were officially back in town, but to their surprise Richie was home and it was obvious that he had no intention of leaving. So Stan and Mike's dinner for two had turned into a dinner for three.

"He's probably frustrated with Eddie." Stan said from where he was in the kitchen cutting something. 

"What your hand's not cutting it anymore?" Mike teased giving Richie a playful shove. "You need some Kaspbrak loving?"

Richie let out a laugh and gave Mike the middle finger. "That's not the problem...well it kind of is." He explained making Mike and Stan even more confused.

"You want to have sex with him, but you don't?" Mike asked

Richie shook his head, "I want to have sex with him believe me there's no question about that, but that's not the problem. " Richie clarified. "I like him guys...like I really like Eddie."

Mike and Stan gave each other knowing looks from across the room before looking at Richie again. 

"We kind of figured, but thanks for telling us." Stan replied from the kitchen. "Have you told Eddie yet?"

"That's the problem, I don't know how to tell him." Richie explained. 

"Just tell him the next time you guys hang out." Mike suggested. "I think he feels the same way that you do."

"Yeah, and you two are practically attached at the hip so not much should change right?" Stan asked. 

Richie agreed. He was going to tell Eddie how he felt the next time they saw each other and nothing was going to stop him.

~

Eddie had been glued to his phone once he'd gotten back in to the city. Him and Micah had been texting and throughout the day and they talked on the phone every night. Richie was the only other person that Eddie had ever been attached to this quickly, so it scared him a bit.

Micah was usually the one to initiate the calls; they started with him making sure that Eddie got home okay, but in reality it was just an excuse for Micah to hear Eddie's sweet voice. Eddie found it flattering and if was a great distraction from the texts that he was getting from Richie. He didn't mean to, but Eddie was subconsciously ignoring Richie. He chalked it up to just being forgetful when he forgot to text Richie back, but every time he opened a text from the other man Eddie heard a voice in his head saying, 

_"He's just going to hurt you"._

Deep down Eddie knew that he was pushing the other man away so that he wouldn't get hurt like his mother said. He just hated the way his heart hurt every time he saw Richie's name pop up in his phone. 

"You're so adorable." Micah said on the other side of phone.

They had moved from their phone call earlier to facetime since both of them were tired of holding the phone up to their ears.

"No, I'm not." Eddie said blushing slightly and letting out a giggle. 

"See that right there," Micah said pointing at Eddie. "That blush and that giggle are completely adorable."

"I'm not adorable." Eddie insisted giving Micah a fake pout.

"Okay, you're cute. What about that?" Micah asked with a chuckle. 

The compliment immediately made Eddie think of Richie.

"You're just so cute Spaghetti. Cute, Cute, Cute!"

"Eddie?" Micah said trying to get Eddie's attention back. 

"Huh?" Eddie asked confused.

"What about cute? Can I call you cute?" Micah asked as he chuckled at Eddie's confusion. 

"No, I'm not a child or an animal Micah," Eddie said very matter of factly.

"Okay fine, I won't call you cute or adorable. " Micah said with a roll of his eyes that Eddie caught but brushed off. "When are you coming back upstate?"

"I don't know probably right before Christmas to see my mom." Eddie replied. "Why you want another date already?" He teased.

"Yeah, actually." Micah admitted. "Come stay with me next weekend? " he suggested. "I'll take you out to a nice dinner, we can get drinks or something."

"I don't know. It seems to soon for me to be spending the night with you don't you think?" Eddie asked feeling hesitant to jump right into something new.

He thought about how he and Richie moved so fast and about how much fun they had together. Then he thought about his mother and what she'd said about guys like Richie. Coincidentally Eddie got a text from Richie as soon as Micah spoke again.

 

**Rich: Hey, can we hang out after class on Monday?**

**Rich: I've really missed you <3**

 

The last text made his heart hurt. Eddie felt so guilty for pushing Richie away, but he knew that it was for the best. Maybe jumping into this relationship with Micah would help distract him from the guilt that he felt.

"You can say no if you truly feel uncomfortable," Micah started. "I just really like you and I thought that it was a good idea."

"Yeah, I'll come visit. " Eddie said with a smile. He felt like he was forcing himself to say this, " and I really like you too Micah."

~

Eddie had agreed to hang out with Richie after class the following Monday as long as Richie promised that they'd get some work done. They went to a café near their campus since it had good wi-fi and if wasn't too crowded. 

Richie wasn't as nervous as he thought that he'd be. He thought that he'd be shitting himself the moment he saw Eddie, but when he'd seen the smaller man sitting in his usual seat earlier, his focus busy on his phone, he couldn't help but feel even more comfortable with what he was going to tell Eddie less than two hours later. 

"Okay Rich, so do you remember what we had for our opening and closing statements?" Eddie asked as he looked through his flashcards.

"I have it, but it's at home. I'll bring it tomorrow. " Richie said as Eddie's phone vibrated.

Eddie picked it up and smiled as he typed out a reply to Micah who he'd been texting basically all day.

"I'm sorry," Eddie said realizing that he was probably being rude to Richie and putting his phone back down still smiling. 

"It's alright," Richie started. "I um actually ...... wanted to talk to you about something." 

Eddie's phone vibrated again, but the two tried to ignore it.

"I've been um thinking about some things since I went back home" he explained as the phone vibrated once again.

This time both of them looked at the phone staring daggers into it.

"I was thinking that since we're already so close and you know that I like you a lot and-" Richie started before another vibration cut off his sentence. 

Richie sighed feeling defeated. "Just get it. Whoever it is obviously wants your attention." He said chuckling slightly and gesturing to the phone.

"I'm sorry Rich," Eddie said giving the other man a guilty look and quickly looking at the messages from Micah.

Eddie couldn't help but giggle at the jokes that Micah sent. They weren't too funny, but they were enough to make Eddie amused. 

"Who's that your boyfriend?" Richie asked jokingly. 

Eddie froze and blushed. "Um..no," Eddie started hesitant to tell Richie about Micah. "We just went on a date while I was back home and we've been talking since. "

Richie nodded not saying anything. Eddie could tell that Richie was either sad or mad, probably both, but either way what Eddie had said didn't have a good effect on him.

"I um... I just realized that I gotta go, I've um got some work to do down at the station. I'll see you later Eddie." Richie said quickly as he packed up his things and left keeping his head down to hide his tear filled eyes.

Eddie felt frozen in his seat, he wanted to go after Richie and apologize, but he knew that there wasn't anything he could say to make the situation better.

~

 Richie threw his bag in the backseat of his car and started driving. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew that he couldn't go back to his apartment. Ben and Stan would be asking him what happened between him and Eddie and Richie was too upset to explain anything. Richie was already thinking too much about the situation. 

 

_'You're never good enough for anyone; that's why everyone leaves you Richie. You're just too annoying; you talk too much and you're ugly. Anyone Eddie's dating now is a great step up from you because you're trash.'_

 

He turned the radio up to try and drown out his thoughts as he continued to drive not knowing exactly where he was going, but wanting to get as far away from New York as his car would take him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. School has snatched my entire wig and plans on keeping it until i graduate this year. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter also thank you again to everyone who comments leaves kudos abd reblogs my promo posts on tumblr. It's greatly appreciated and I freak out whenever y'all interact with me. Love y'all!!!  
> ~Allison


	8. 8

As Richie drove the day quickly turned to night and the anger that he was feeling began to change into sadness. He was thinking about all the fun he and Eddie had in their short time together. Richie had only ever liked one other person as much as he liked Eddie, but even that relationship didn't happen as fast as whatever he and Eddie had.

 

Richie stopped once he got to a beach in Connecticut. He figured that it was far enough away from everything and the ocean would probably help clear his mind even if it was the middle of the night and the middle of winter. He was seemingly the only person there even the beach patrol was off duty for the season. Richie drove his car up close to the edge of the water and turned up his music before getting out. Anyone passing could hear his music blasting through his car, but he didn't care. 

 

Richie sat in front of his car on a small patch of dry sand. He stared out at the ocean with tears in his eyes.Anyone passing could hear his music blasting through his car, but he didn't care. He didn't even care that some of the sand was still covered in snow and that it was below freezing out. He just wanted a place to be alone with his thoughts and his music. 

 

_"He's such a dick! Why didn't he say anything about him going on a date? Why the hell did he fucking lead me on? How did he not see how much I liked him? I'm such a fucking idiot for thinking that he felt the same way."_

 

He sat silently watching the reflection of the moon through the waves before he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Richie's heart leapt in his chest thinking that it was Eddie calling him, but unfortunately for him it was Stan.

 

"Richie where the hell are you? I called Eddie and he said you weren't with him and you're not home and I know that you're not working tonight. " Stan started sounding like a worried parent. "So help me, if you get yourself in trouble I'm not helping you get out of it."

 

"Can you get off my back please? I'm a grown man, I can take care of myself. " Richie snapped. He didn't mean to, but the fact that Eddie hadn't so much as texted him to see if he was okay pissed Richie off.

 

"You're a dick you know that?" Stan asked rhetorically. "I'm just trying to be a good friend and make sure that you're safe, but since you obviously don't appreciate it forget that I even called. Goodnight Richie."

 

The line clicked before Richie could respond. At that moment he felt bad. He was lashing out at Stan for no reason and his feelings for Eddie were the cause of it. 

 

"Shit." He said under his breath before getting up and dusting the sand off his pants. 

 

He got back into his, turned down his music slightly and began his drive back home.

 

~

The guilt that Eddie was feeling haunted him for the rest of the day.  He thought about calling or texting Richie, but he thought that the other man would get over it soon enough. He figured that maybe a FaceTime call with Micah would release some of the guilt that he was feeling so he'd asked Micah to call him as soon as he got home from work and sure enough the other man delivered. 

 

Eddie explained his situation with Richie to Micah, omitting any information that indicated that he and Richie had been anything more than friends, to try and figure out what to do. 

 

"Just talk to him Eddie. It seems like Richie is a friend that you really care about and if you want to fix anything communication is key." Micah explained.

 

"I know. I just don't want him to be upset with me. " Eddie replied. 

 

"Hey don't get so down about it. If he's ment to be in your life everything will work out." Micah reassured as Eddie nodded. "How about we talk about something a bit happier like you coming to see me this weekend. "

 

"Yeah, I'm excited." Eddie replied.

 

He truly wasn't too excited to go visit Micah for the weekend. The thought of most likely having to sleep in a bed with someone who he barely knew made him feel a bit uncomfortable, but he wanted to push himself to try and make a new relationship, one that was secure and normal. And he figured that if he became uncomfortable while he was there he could easily get on the next bus back to the city or worse case scenario spend the night at his mom's. 

 

~

"Look Stan I'm sorry dude." Richie said basically begging Stan through his bedroom door to forgive him for how he acted on the phone earlier.

 

Stan opened his door after a while and stood in front of Richie with his arms crossed. 

 

"Okay, if I forgive you will you stop being such a dick and tell me what happened to make you so pissed?" 

 

"Yes, I'll tell you." 

 

Stan sighed before waving Richie into his pristine room and gesturing for Richie to sit in his desk chair and not on his bed.

 

"Start from the beginning please. " Stan said prompting Richie to explain himself.

 

As Richie explained his situation Stan began to feel more and more sympathetic for his friend. He could see how hurt he was.

 

"I'm understand how you feel Richie and I get that Eddie hurt you, but that doesn't mean that you need to lash out at me or anyone else." Stan replied. "I just want to help you man, but if you piss off the people trying to help you it's just going to make the situation worse."

 

Richie nodded. As much as Richie and Stan joked around and insulted each other they actually cared about each other a lot, they were best friends after all, and almost all the advice that Stan gave to Richie was valuable and good advice.

 

"I don't know what to do now though. I really thought that Eddie and I were on the same page and it hurts to think that he's with someone else now." Richie said sadly. 

 

"Well I think that since he's already with someone the best thing that you can do is try and move on Richie." Stan said. "You don't want to try and take him from someone else."

 

Richie knew that Stan was right. If he tried to get Eddie back from whatever guy he was seeing it probably would end in the best way and Richie didn't want that to happen. 

 

 

~

It had been three days since the incident and Eddie had been calling and texting Richie everyday to try and talk to him. Now Eddie was at Richie's apartment hoping that he was there. The other man wasn't in class earlier that day so Eddie figured that he was either at home or at work.

 

Eddie knocked on the door and immediately after he heard a muffled "coming," from the other side.

 

Richie opened it with a confused look on his face, but that confusion quickly turned into annoyance. 

 

" What's going on Eddie?" Richie asked crossing his arms. 

 

"I've been calling you for days Richie. Why have you been ignoring me? I've been worried." Eddie said sounding hurt.

 

"I blocked your number." Richie said very matter of factly.

 

"Why would you do that?" Eddie asked confused and even more hurt than before.

 

"I figured that there was no point us talking anymore." Richie replied. "I mean the project is almost done and I obviously don't mean anything to you."

 

The last comment felt like a slap across Eddie's face. The only thing that he could think was:

 

_'You mean so much to me Richie, you mean too much to me_ '

 

"What are you talking about? You mean so much to me Richie. " Eddie replied feeling like he was begging Richie to listen to him. "I-I Lo-"

 

Eddie started before he heard his mother's voice in his head once again. 

 

_'He's just going to hurt you'_

 

"You hurt me Eds, and I don't think that you realize that." Richie said feeling like he was on the verge of tears. 

 

"We can meet again next week to finish our plans for the debate, but after that lose my number. " Richie continued before closing the door on Eddie.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the late update. School started up again and between that, work and me not being where I want to be mentally it's been really hard to write this fic. I do however plan to finish it up within the next two chapters (but don't worry I've got some more plans for this AU). I hope you all enjoyed  
> ~Allison


	9. 9

  
It had been almost two months since the last time Eddie and Richie had spoken to each other. The last time they'd talked to each other was right before they began their class debate in December. It was now the end of February and not much had changed in the city. The only difference was that there were no more Christmas lights and a lot less tourists. The snow and the winds were still occupying the city and they showed no signs of letting up soon.

Unlike the weather Eddie's life had changed a lot over those two months.  He and Micah were officially dating, a result of some major convincing from both Micah and Eddie's mother, and he snagged a great internship with a small company in Manhattan. All around Eddie felt like his life was going great, but he also constantly felt like there was something missing and he knew exactly what it was.

Richie's life on the other hand was mostly the same as it was before he and Eddie got together. He went to most of his classes, went to work, and hung out with his friends when he could. He couldn't pinpoint anything particularly exciting that happened to him besides Beverly gifting him a new lighter and a celebratory joint for Christmas. Richie tried to think about Eddie less, but it was hard for him.

One of his hardest days had been Valentine's day. Richie had spent the day on air giving shout out after shout out to lovers sending messages to each other over the radio. It saddened him to hear how happy people were together when he couldn't be with the boy that he had so many feelings for. And while eating dinner with Stan, Bev and Bill, just when Richie thought that his sad day was over he was hit with the worst news possible.

"Have you guys heard from Eddie lately? I really need help on this paper I have to write and he's like the only one in that class that understands what's going on." Beverly explained.

Richie and Stan shook their heads just as Bill began to speak.

"Oh he's upstate with his boyfriend this weekend. " Bill replied not knowing how hard the statement would hit Richie.

'He's officially moved on. I truly ment nothing to him.' Richie's racing mind stopped him from listening to the rest of his friends' conversations.

Richie fell unusually silent, no more jokes fell from his mouth for the rest of the evening and the only two words he uttered after hearing about Eddie was "bye guys" when he and Stan were leaving.

"Are you feeling okay Richie?" Stan asked as they sat in traffic on their way home.

Richie nodded and tried to fake a smile for his friend. He didn't want Stan to see him upset about the same situation again. Stan had already gave him advice on the situation and Richie didn't want Stan to have to repeat himself.

"That's not a real smile. What's wrong dude?" Stan asked seriously. He spoke again when he got no response from his friend.

"It was what Bill said about Eddie earlier wasn't it?" Stan asked. His suspicions were proven correct once he saw Richie's facial expression change from nonchalance to sadness.

Richie let out a sigh before speaking. "I just don't understand how he could move on so fast if I ment something to him like he said that I did."

"Look Richie I'm going to be honest with you. If he moved on I think that the best thing for you to do is move on too." Stan replied.

"I know Stan, I just...there's no one out there for me right now. " Richie sighed.

"It's because you're ignoring everyone who has an interest in you besides Eddie." Stan stated. "How about I set you up with Kyle?"

"Kyle that works at Urban Outfitters Kyle?" Richie asked confused.

"Yes that Kyle. Super cute Kyle that works at the Urban Outfitters next to my job and practically drools over you when walk in Kyle." Stan said with a small chuckle.

It was true; usually Richie browsed through said Urban Outfitters when he waited for Stan to go on his lunch break and recently the store's newest employee Kyle would flirt with him non-stop.

"I don't know Stan." Richie replied.

"Just think about it Rich. He seems like a nice guy. What's the worst that could happen?"

That was how Richie ended up on a date a week after Valentines day.  
If Richie had taken a step out of his own brain for two seconds he might have been able to have more fun on the date than he did. After a week of texting back and forth, Richie and Kyle had settled on going to an arcade.

The beginning of the date was probably the worst part. When the two men met at the arcade. They'd met up in the parking lot both of them had driven since they didn't really solidify how they'd be spending the rest of their night

"Hey Richie!" Kyle waved from beside his car once Richie had pulled up. Richie gave him a waved and a small smile as Kyle jogged lightly over to greet him properly.

He wanted to have a good night with Kyle, but couldn't help constantly comparing Kyle to Eddie in his mind.They were very similar in looks, only Kyle was a bit less muscular and had some of the most piercing blue eyes that Richie had ever seen. Usually Richie would have been drawn in by them, but he couldn't help compare Kyle's eyes the big adorable brown eyes that Eddie had.

"Sweet ride." Kyle said taking Richie out of his own thoughts.

"Huh?" Richie asked as he tuned back into his conversation with Kyle.

"Your car it's nice." Kyle said again with a small chuckle.

"Oh..yeah, thanks."   
Richie replied with a smile. "Yours is pretty good too." He continued. He was lying he hadn't even paid attention to what kind of car Kyle drove and he definitely wouldn't have know if it was a good one or not.

"Thanks." Kyle said before studying Richie for a moment. He noticed his date fidgeting slightly as they spoke and Richie's face was definitely slightly red.

"You look nervous." Kyle stated.

"I'm not, " Richie replied. "Are you?"  
Kyle shook his head before sporting a mischievous smile, "do you know why?"

Richie shook his head.

"Because I'm about to kick your ass so hard in mortal combat." Kyle joked.

Richie laughed,"You wish, I'll have you know that back where I'm from I'm the mortal combat king."

"Let's see." Kyle said holding his hand out for Richie to take.

Richie took his hand. It was softer than Eddie's. Eddie's were slightly calloused, probably from fixing up bikes and motorcycles all day.

He remembered how he and Eddie would cuddle on the couch and watch romance movies, they started off making fun of each one because they were so cliché, but by the end they were both teary eyed. Richie remembered the way that Eddie's hand would find his own when the couple in the movie finally got together. He remembered almost all of those small moments. Richie missed them he missed Eddie.

"Richie, are you even here man?" Kyle asked, taking Richie out of his thoughts for the second time that night.

Richie hadn't even realized that they'd made it inside the arcade and had somehow already gotten tokens, he figured Kyle got them.  
Richie nodded. "Yeah, sorry. " he started. "I'm here just thinking about how I'm about to destroy you." He joked.

"Put your money where your mouth is Mr. King." Kyle said making fun of Richie as he held up a token.  
The two ended up playing three rounds with Richie losing two of them. They continued to play various games in the arcade. The games and jokes were a great distraction for Richie. He was actually having fun and he and Kyle got along so well.

"lowest score pays for drinks later?" Kyle asked holding up their last two tokens as he leaned against the skee-ball machine.

"Oh you're on." Richie said taking a token from his date.

"I'll let you know now that the only things I drink are vodka and wine coolers." Kyle joked as he started his game.

"Well that's useless information to me because you're going to be the one buying me drinks right." Richie replied.

Richie ended up getting the highest score, but only by 50 points.

"I swear you cheated." Kyle said as he and Richie walked hand in hand to his car. Kyle leaned his back against the door and looked up at Richie. "Did you climb up the machine while I wasn't looking?"  
"No, I'm just used to playing with balls." Richie joked making Kyle laugh loudly.

"You're a Riot Richie." Kyle replied as their laughter died down. "So...I've had a great time with you tonight."

"Yeah, me too." Richie replied. "It's not over though. We could still get drinks if you're up for it. I'll even buy you a couple of shots"

Kyle smiled. "I have a better idea, I've got some beer and wine coolers at my apartment,and if those aren't really your speed we can pick something up on the way there." He suggested.

Richie smirked he didn't know to assume, but he knew what an invite back to someone's place usually ment.

"I'd like that. " he replied.  
Richie drove behind Kyle as he led him to his apartment near by. Kyle's apartment was nice for a guy who worked at Urban Outfitters. It was a studio with a small wall that separated his bed from the rest of the room. It was small,but it was clean and all of his things seemed to fit perfectly in it.

"You can take your shoes off at the door and put your coat on the couch." Kyle stated as they walked in. "Just sit wherever, I'll get the drinks."

Richie nodded as he took off his coat and sat on the loveseat that was placed near the TV on the opposite wall. The apartment reminded Richie if the first time that he visited Eddie's apartment. It was a similar night like this with promises of drinks, but it turned into some intimate making out and tipsy talks about the universe. Thinking back to the first night he and Eddie had spent together made Richie feel very apprehensive about possibly doing the same with Kyle.

"Richie...Richie." Kyle said raising his voice slightly. "Have you been listening at all?"

"What?" Richie asked confused which only made Kyle chuckle and shake his head as he handed Richie a bottle of beer.

"I don't want to assume anything, but I noticed that you haven't been fully here all night. Is something on your mind?" Kyle asked as he sat next to Richie.

Richie sighed and stayed silent for a while, he placed his unopened beer on the coffee table and started to explain. "It's just my ex....well not my ex, but a guy that I really had feelings for not too long   
ago and I'm sorry, but he's just stuck in my head."

Kyle pursed his lips into a line he was disappointed, but that didn't mean that he couldn't comfort Richie. "You know what always stops me from thinking about ex's?"  
Richie shook his head and watched as Kyle got up and rummaged through a box on his bookshelf.

"Do you smoke?" Kyle asked as he pulled out a pre rolled blunt.

"I mean some times...not as much as I used to."Richie replied.

"Well do you want to? It might help take your mind off of whoever you keep thinking about. " Kyle replied sitting back down and lighting the blunt.

"Hell yeah I do." Richie replied with a smile. 


	10. 10

For almost the entire month of February Eddie had spent every weekend upstate visiting his now official boyfriend Micah. Eddie was hesitant the first time that he visited months ago, but initially Micah seemed to be a pretty okay guy.

However towards the end of the month Eddie started to notice some changes in Micah's nice demeanor. He had started to checkup on Eddie a lot more than usual and Eddie noticed the subtle ways that Micah tried to control him. When they went out to eat Eddie noticed that Micah constantly tried to convince Eddie to get something other than what he initially wanted to order. Eddie stayed silent about it thinking that it was just Micah's way of trying to take care of him.

He was slightly older than Eddie by about six years which wouldn't really be much of a problem if Micah hadn't started mentioning Eddie's age every time he was introduced to someone new or if he didn't compare Eddie's maturity to his ex's any chance that he got.

On that particular evening Micah took Eddie to a small office party that his firm had thrown for some business anniversary. Eddie had left work early and gotten dressed at Micah's so that they could ride to the party together, but once Eddie got dressed Micah has a few issues with it.

"You know, you should really wear that." Micah stated as he buttoned up his own shirt.

"What why? What's wrong with my outfit? " Eddie asked confused. 

He thought that he had put together a pretty nice outfit. Micah had told him that the even was business casual so he decided to wear his navy blue pants, a white button up, and a wine sweater over it. Eddie thought that he looked good.

"You look like a child." Micah replied. 

Eddie chuckled slightly. "How do I look like a child Micah?" 

"You just do.You're not like my ex you wouldn't know what to wear to something like this at your age." Micah said with a sigh.

"Stop being a dick." Eddie said. "I'll be in the car." He continued as he stormed out of the room grabbing Micah's keys.

The comments went on for the rest of the night. Everytime he introduced Eddie to someone new he either gave Eddie a backhanded compliment or he made a rude comment under his breath.

To put it simply Eddie was miserable and pissed off for the rest of the night. He had planned on spending the rest of the weekend with Micah, but now he was definitely getting on the first train that would take him back to the city.

Eddie had slipped away from Micah without him noticing and wandered to the bathroom.

 

 _'Why did I think that my mother could find someone good for me? I should've fucking known.'_ Eddie thought to himself.

In hindsight he should've guessed that his manipulative mother would have tried to set him up with someone that was just as controlling as her. He threw away his own happiness because he trusted his mother's judgment more than his own heart. He hurt Richie because he trusted his mother more than his own heart. 

 

_'I shouldn't be hiding in this fucking bathroom in Albany, I should be in Harlem with Richie.'_

Eddie was more pissed off at himself than anyone else in that moment. He was angry that he'd let his mother get into his head again, he was angry that he'd let Micha try to control for the past month, but more importantly he was angry that he hurt Richie. 

He remembered how much pain was in Richie's voice and his eyes when Eddie went to see him.

 

_"You hurt me Eds, and I don't think that you realize that."_

He definitely realized it at that moment. Eddie felt like shit. All he wanted to do was leave the party, find Richie, and apologize a thousand times. Richie didn't even have to take him back, but he just wanted to give him the apology that Richie deserved. 

Eddie stormed out of the bathroom and found Micah talking so a group of people that Eddie barely remembered the names of.

"Eddie where have you been I was looking for you." Micah said sounding slightly angry.

"I want to leave." Eddie said crossing his arms and ignoring his boyfriend's earlier statement.

"Why would you want to leave? We've barely been here for an hour." Micah scoffed. 

"Well for starters you've been a dick  to me in front of all your colleagues all night."Eddie replied rasing his voice slightly.

"Keep your voice down and stop being a fucking brat." Micah whispered as he grabbed Eddie's arm harshly and led him around the corner to a random hall.

"Micah stop you're hurting me!" Eddie said as he tried to get out of the older man's grip. Micah let him go and his hand left a reddish mark on Eddie's skin. "What the hell is wrong with you? You've been so fucking aggressive and controlling all month."

"Well maybe if you would listen to me I wouldn't get so upset with you." Micah replied. "And if you weren't so childish all the time I wouldn't have to help you make the right decisions."

"I'm not your fucking child, I'm supposed to be your boyfriend. We're supposed to be fucking equals." Eddie replied rasing his voice. "And I'm a grown ass man, I don't need help making decisions."

"I'm not going to do this with you here....." Micah said stopping to think. "Come on let's go. " he continued.

Once they got back to Micah's house Eddie immediately repacked his overnight bag along with a few shirts that he'd previously left at his boyfriend's home. He didn't speak to Micah until he was about to leave and Micah didn't speak to him. They both knew what was happening from the silence that they were giving each other, but neither of them were trying to fix the situation. 

"I think we made a mistake with this..."Eddie said gesturing between them. "I'm sorry that we wasted each other's time."

Micah nodded his face held no emotion, it seemed that he didn't really care that he and Eddie were breaking up or at least he didn't show it. 

"I'm sorry that I .... made you feel controlled." Micah replied, "I was honestly just trying to help."

Eddie nodded "I forgive you, but I still don't think that we're right for each other. "

"I understand." Micah said with a nod.

There was an awkward tension between them and Eddie didn't know what else to do so he walked through the door and proceeded to call an uber to take him to the Amtrak.

~

"Hey Richie, what are you doing for the rest of the weekend?" Stan asked as he poked his head into Richie's room.

Richie was surprised that Stan was even home. It was a Friday night and usually Stan and Mike would go on a date or whatever those two did when they weren't surrounded by their friends.

"Nothing," Richie stated before narrowing his eyes at Stan. "...why?"

Richie was skeptical of the question and for good reason. When ever Stan asked about Richie's plans, when he knew that Richie was most likely free, it always ended in him asking for a favor.

"Mrs. Eileen in 213 needs someone to watch her cat, Elton, for the weekend and she asked me, but you know that I don't really like cats all that much, especially ones with all that hair like her's," Stan began, "so I was wondering if you would be able to watch him? I would ask Ben, but you know that he's leaving for his internship trip in a few hours-"

"I'm cool with taking care of the cat Stanley." Richie said with a small chuckle. "You don't have to convince me, I love Eileen's little guy."

Stan thanked him and later returned back to the apartment with a cat carrier and another bag most likely filled with cat essentials. 

"She said he eats every three to four hours and his litter box needs to be cleaned at least once a day or he'll go crazy." Stan explained as he set down all of the things in Richie's room. 

"I think that I can take care of a cat Stan," Richie stated as he opened the cat carrier to let Elton out. "They mostly just sleep right?"

Elton timidly stepped out of the carrier and looked around the room. He stared at Stan for a moment then he stared at Richie, both boys were silent during the encounter, then he jumped up onto the couch and settled himself into a comfortable position. 

"My point exactly. " Richie said gesturing to Elton.

~

Eddie felt like the first thing that he had to do once he got back into the city was to apologize to Richie and maybe try to win him back. He knew that showing up at his apartment unannounced probably wasn't the best since they hadn't spoken in months he had no clue if Richie would be home or not. Because of this he decided to call Stanley, he was one of the only people Eddie could think of who would definitely know where Richie was.

"Yeah, he's home. He said that he's got no plans this weekend. "Stan replied on the other side of the phone. "Why are you finally trying to make up with him?

"Something like that. " Eddie replied 

"Well I'm glad because he hasn't been his self since you two started fighting. I don't exactly know what your relationship was like, but I know that you really hurt him Eddie. " Stan explained making Eddie feel even guiltier.

"I know...I fucked up Stan." Eddie replied, "do you think that he'll forgive me?"

Stan let out a sigh, "he misses you Eddie, and it may take some time for you two to get back to the way you were, but he'll forgive you."

"I hope so..." Eddie replied. 

 

Since it took Eddie thirty minutes to get back to Brooklyn from Penn Station and it took another thirty minutes to get to Richie's apartment in Harlem, Eddie decided to call an Uber and go straight to Richie's apartment. He didn't want to risk Richie being asleep when Eddie got there if he decided to go home first.

As he rode to Richie's his nerves and thoughts were running haywire. He was second guessing himself the entire ride.

 

_'Maybe he doesn't even miss me. He's probably moved on by now. What if I'm interrupting him and his new boyfriend...or girlfriend. Fuck! I should just tell the driver to turn around and take me home. '_

His mother's voice began to speak in his mind, but he quickly tried to ignore all of his thoughts. No one, not even his self was going to keep him from the person that he truly cared about this time. 

Once the driver dropped him off Eddie spent no time going up to the buzzer and typing in Richie's apartment number. He hoped that he had chosen the right numbers and he hoped that Richie would let him in.

Eddie's first hope was answered when he heard Richie's warm and relaxed voice over the intercom.

"Hello?" He asked.

 

"Um..Hey Richie,.. It's Eddie," Eddie replied, cringing at his own awkwardness, "Can we talk?" 

He heard the call quickly click signifying that Richie had hung up on him. Eddie's entire heart dropped to his stomach. 

 

_'I deserve it. Why would he want to talk to me when I hurt him?'_

Just as Eddie was about to walk away from the apartment building he heard the door unlock meaning that Richie actually wanted Eddie to come up and talk. 

Eddie took the stairs up to Richie's third floor apartment two steps at a time and once he got to the door he hesitantly knocked on it three times. 

Richie cracked the door open so that just his body fit. He had no emotion on his face and he crossed  his arms over his chest closing Eddie off in a way.

Richie was skeptical about this talk, but he figured that he should let Eddie get a second chance at explaining his side.

"Go ahead," Richie stated. 

Eddie wasn't expecting him to be so closed off and cold towards him.

"Okay, um well first of all.. I'm sorry." Eddie started, "I'm sorry that I hurt you and I'm sorry that I didn't realize how much I hurt you....I honestly didn't do it on purpose, it was to protect myself. "

"Protect you from what Eddie? I was nothing, but good to you." Richie replied.

"I know, it was just..... people getting into my head and telling me stuff. " Eddie explained, "I shouldn't have listened to them, but I was stupid and I did and I threw away something with someone that I truly care about because I was stupid. "

"Who got into your head?" Richie asked.

Eddie sighed, he knew that he would have to explain his mother's influence on him to Richie one day, but he hadn't planned on it being today.

"Can I come in and tell you?" Eddie asked. 

Richie saw the dread and sadness on Eddie's face and nodded as he moved to the side opening the door wider.

He gestured to the couch in the living room and closed the door behind Eddie. He didn't realize that Elton was laying on the couch until Eddie said something. 

"Oh you got a cat?" He asked curiously as he reached to pet Elton.

"Not exactly, I'm cat-stitting for my neighbor this weekend. " Richie replied as he picked up Elton and placed him on the floor so that he could find another place to lay down. 

 

The two sat down and Eddie explained his situation with his mother; how she coddled him for most of his young life, keeping him in and out of hospitals and doctors offices constantly, how he tried to rebel against her with his first boyfriend, how she was able to manipulate him and ruin almost every relationship that he's ever made, and how she manipulated him into hurting Richie and practically forcing him to date Micah.

"And I know that none of that is an excuse for what I did because I'm an adult and I should be able to make decisions on my own, but...I'm just so fucking sorry. " Eddie said sounding like he was on the verge of tears.

Richie reached to hold Eddie's hand and he rubbed soothing circles into it to calm him down. 

"You know when Bill told me that you and that guy were dating officially, I was devastated. I don't know why, but it was like before that I was just waiting for you to come back " Richie explained without looking Eddie in the eye "And when I heard that from Bill I tried to move on..., but I was so stuck on you that I couldn't. I don't know how you affected me so much."

Richie had been holding back his tears during the entire encounter and now a few were slipping down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry Richie." Eddie said softly as he carefully wiped away Richie's tears. "I'm here now and I promise that I won't go anywhere......if you'll have me."

Richie looked at Eddie for a moment searching for any sign that he wasn't serious about what he was saying, but he couldn't find any. He could tell that Eddie was truly sorry and he appreciated it. Maybe he was even ready to forgive Eddie and try to start a relationship with him again. 

"God, I missed you Eds." Richie replied bringing Eddie in for a tight hug. 

"I missed you too." Eddie replied into Richie's shoulder.

 

Eddie went home soon after not wanting to overstay his welcome, but he and Richie made plans to hang out together like old times the next night. And just like old times one thing led to another and soon they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. 

They'd both vowed to themselves that they wouldn't fall back into the same complicated situation that they had been in the first place. Richie especially didn't want there to be any grey area with the two of them. So during their heated kissing accompanied by some light groping, Richie abruptly pulled away from Eddie's lips. 

"W-what's wrong?" Eddie asked from where he was seated on Richie's lap, "Did I do something wrong?"

Richie shook his head,"No, No. It's just....where do we stand after all of this?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Eddie asked looking down at Richie with furrowed brows. 

"I don't want us to be confused about our relationship like last time..." Richie explained. 

"Okay..." Eddie replied thinking about a solution, "then be my boyfriend. "

Eddie honestly didn't expect to jump into a new relationship so soon, but he didn't want to lose what he had with Richie. They had made so much progress in the past two days and he wasn't about to lose Richie again. And every time he looked at the dark haired man who was currently under him and rubbing soothing circles into Eddie's waist, his heart jumped and Eddie didn't want to let that feeling go anytime soon. 

"Are you sure?" Richie asked surprised by Eddie's question. 

Eddie nodded and smiled brightly. 

"Okay, yes. We're boyfriends now." Richie replied happily with a small chuckle. 

Eddie chuckled before kissing Richie on the lips. 

"You don't understand how fucking happy I am right now." Richie replied through the kisses. 

"I'm happy too Rich," Eddie said giggling as Richie flipped him onto his back and began pressing kisses down his jaw line and to his neck. 

They were both satisfied for the moment. Even though they went through ups and downs deep down both men believed that they were truly ment to be together and they thought that the stars had finally aligned for them. They thought that this was their time to finally be together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first written work that I've ever actually finished and I'm very proud of myself. Thank you to everyone who has read this in its entirety and left kudos or a comment. Also if you can't get enough of Eddie and Richie's mess of a relationship don't worry they'll be back soon. I'm making this a three part series where all of the works can be read as separate things, but they're all tied together. This note is very long already so I'll shut up: follow me on tumblr in the meantime @softest-reddie and I'll see y'all in a few months.


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